The skills crunch is posing a big challenge to Germany’s plans to renovate its housing stock. This blog from energy expert Patrick Biegon at German consumer organisation vzbv is the latest in our mini-series on sustainable housing. It shows the challenges Germany is facing in finding and training the workforce to help renovate its building stock and what can be done to fix it.
A staggering 36% of Europe’s emissions comes from buildings. To tackle the problem, Germany has set ambitious goals to improve the energy efficiency of its building stock. At EU level, the bloc intends to ramp up energy efficiency gains in buildings as part of its Renovation Wave strategy.
An ageing workforce
To tackle the problem, Germany has set ambitious goals to improve the energy efficiency of its building stock. Unfortunately, we are already facing a significant first hurdle: there is an enormous lack of qualified personnel to carry out these retrofit works. According to the Federal Employment Agency, 21,400 skilled workers were lacking in 2020 in the fields of energy technology, electrical engineering and air conditioning alone.
With little young talent coming in, the sector is ageing rapidly with many qualified workers soon reaching retirement age. In Germany, over 43% of business owners in the heating sector were older than 50 in 2015. Meanwhile, the number of trainees across skilled trade sectors has been shrinking, with just 361,000 in 2015 compared to 630,000 in 1997.
This shortage is already having a direct impact on consumers. Drivers looking to charge their electric vehicle at home and who recently ordered a wall box to do so, for example, are facing waiting times of up to six months or longer for installation.
The quality conundrum
The problem is not only the quantity of personnel available, but also the quality. Finding a professional to carry out retrofit works is already a challenge for consumers. Finding somebody reliable and qualified can often be even more of a struggle.
In Germany, all too often, poorly executed and/or planned energy retrofit works lead to additional costs for consumers above and beyond any savings they may make on their energy bills. This not only creates financial issues for consumers, but it also risks undermining public acceptance for retrofit works and the energy transition.
As such, the entire construction industry needs to engage more with modern processes and technologies and to keep up with recent developments, such as sustainable building materials and processes. Consumers willing to carry out energy-related improvements to their homes must be able to rely on the quality and expertise of the tradespeople carrying out the work, as investing in a heat pump – for example – can be a big-front investment requiring significant works.
Training today and tomorrow’s talent
Addressing the skills shortage also means ensuring the workforce has the right skills to deliver the quality that consumers expect. That is why training is so vital: to both guarantee the quality of the works and ensure tradespeople adapt to new requirements and technologies.
This training needs to ensure that workers are equipped with very specialised technical skills. Installing a heat pump, for example, requires specific certification which is often lacking in Germany. In France, 25% of installers currently have that qualification, while in Germany it is just 10%.
Policymakers need to strengthen this professional training. But more structural measures are also needed to improve the image of jobs in the construction sector by ending precarious labour conditions and raising wages to attract more young people. However, it is concerning that the Council is proposing to scrap measures that the Commission proposed in the reviewed Renewable Energy Directive requiring countries to ensure sufficient renewable heating and cooling installers to meet demand.
Regaining consumer confidence through accreditation
But the tide is already beginning to turn in Germany. As of 2021, a new requirement means that consumers who have received a government subsidy for renovation works, must now consult an energy assessor before starting their renovation project. These assessors provide advice and guidance to consumers on the best course of action according to their circumstances.
An accreditation system has been in place in Germany for these assessors since 2014. Consumers must rate their assessor and staying on the list depends on consumer ratings (i.e. customer satisfaction) which helps ensure quality control. The scheme is already bearing fruit. Around 13,000 energy efficiency experts from all over Germany are now listed in the database, together with 8,500 architects and engineers. This all helps to improve consumer choice and confidence in the industry.
But there are two flaws: an accreditation system is still lacking for installers, the people who will actually carry out the works based on the assessor’s expert advice. The current system for assessors should be replicated for installers.
Another flaw is that there is no obligation to consult an assessor when only renewing a heating system. This is significant because it can lead to consumers making uninformed decisions (e.g., installing a new gas boiler when their house is ready to be equipped with a heat pump) which can lead to stranded investments and higher energy bills in the long run. Issues like this urgently need addressing.
Moving forward
Without the workforce to do it, Europe’s Renovation Wave will remain a Renovation Dream, leading us to a climate nightmare.
In Germany, like many countries in Europe, attracting and training the workforce with the right skills to undertake the massive amounts of works needed to renovate our ageing housing stock will be a major challenge.
Countries will need to take a systematic approach and assess how many installers are needed, how many are missing and how to fund and plan the scaling up of training and accreditation. Without the workforce to do it, Europe’s Renovation Wave will remain a Renovation Dream, leading us to a climate nightmare.